1964 Bien Hoa mortar attack

The 1964 Bien Hoa mortar attack occurred on 1 November 1964 at the start of the US intervention in the Vietnam War.

In retaliation for US air raids on North Vietnam, the communist Viet Cong guerrillas decided to attack the Bien Hoa Air Base, the largest airbase in South Vietnam and a base close to the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon. On the night of 1 November 1964, a Viet Cong mortar team penetrated the base's perimeter and launched a 30-minute barrage on the airbase, destroying 9 US aircraft and damaging 21 and killing 4 US troops and 2 ARVN soldiers. President Lyndon B. Johnson declinde to follow JSOC's recommendation to launch immediate reprisals, instead ordering the replacement of the lost aircraft and convening his National Security Council to consider available political and military options. The South Vietnamese air marshal Nguyen Cao Ky retaliated against the Viet Cong by sending 32 aircraft to launch a night attack on a Viet Cong base, allegedly killing 500 guerrillas.